Idaho is now the first state to pass legislation criminalizing the taking of video inside factory farms as well as the distribution of such videos, a practice referred to as "ag-gag." Idaho State Representative John Rusche (D) described Senate Bill 1337 as an "affront against freedom of speech and the first amendment."
He added it may only be the beginning of the agro-business's efforts to legislate policy, including the potential rollback of environmental regulations. The bill was signed by Republican Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter late last week.
For Rusche, it is a basic constitutional issue that should be addressed.
"[The bill] is a violation of free speech and includes transmitting any such videos," Rusche said in a telephone interview with Occupy.com. "It really is an affront to the first amendment."
Eighty percent of Idaho's legislature is dominated by conservative Republicans, who are largely responsible for the passage of the bill. Some legislators, like Rusche, are hopeful that citizens will see the realities of such a bill. Inadvertently, the "market" may help to illuminate the real damage the bill will do to the meat industry’s profits.
"[The legislation] doesn't do the food industry any good to hide how food is produced," he said, referring to a number of companies in the state who had urged Otter not to sign the bill into law, to no avail.
Otter and five of the Ag-Gag bill’s co-sponsors have taken donations from big agriculture in the past. The Idaho Farm Bureau, which hailedSB 1337 as a “response to the increase in clandestine activities of anti-agricultural activist organizations whose purpose is to discredit and destroy modern agriculture,” donated between $1,250 and $2,000 to co-sponsors Steve Bair, Lee Heider, Monty Pearce, Jim Rice and Jim Guthrie in the 2012 election cycle. Monsanto donated $10,000 to Gov. Otter’s 2010 campaign.
Across the country last year, nine similar "Ag-Gag" bills failed to pass state government. But Idaho, the first deep-red state to introduce such legislation, passed it without much trouble, despite campaigns by national animal welfare organizations such as The Humane Society and Mercy for Animals.
Mercy for Animals (MFA) knows Idaho well, documenting abuses at Bettencourt Dairies, Idaho’s largest dairy factory farm, through undercover investigative work. MFA documented workers sexually abusing animals and viciously beating, kicking and jumping on cows in order to inflict pain. The investigation led to criminal cruelty charges against workers and a manager at the facility.
MFA launched an online petition last month attempting to derail Senate Bill 1337.
"SB 1337 is a pathetic attempt by pro-factory farm legislators to stifle undercover investigations and allow criminal animal abuse to continue, undetected, at factory farms and slaughterhouses across the state," MFA said in a statement ahead of Otter signing the bill into law. "And instead of fostering greater transparency in food production, Idaho’s ag-gag bill would allow factory farmers to ignore important food safety, environmental, and worker safety laws."
Rusche agrees with MFA on the need to allow citizens to know where their food is coming from. "I'm not sure it will make any real impact," he said. "It might make Mercy for Animals and others afraid to film, but it doesn't help our industry and agricultural sector."
This comes on the heels of Washington pushing forward the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), which activists say "conflates First Amendment-protected activism with terrorism."
The bill was originally pushed through Congress in 2006 with the meat industry’s full support. Since then, similar legislation has gained traction and movement through state governments like Idaho’s, aimed at silencing critics who speak out against animal cruelty.
AETA has been described by observers as “designer legislation” that aims to tackle social commentary on animal cruelty currently being inflicted upon animals at labs, in the animal production industry and anything related to animal rights and calls for food boycotts.
In Idaho, the state government seems to have moved quickly in support of the large animal agriculture sector to criminalize animal activism, but as Rusche points out, it may just be the tip of the iceberg for what the factory farm industry is capable of going forward.
"Dairy could next go after environmental laws," he said, alluding to some movement he said is coming forward that hints that new legislation could be introduced this year in the state that would rollback numerous environmental regulations on the dairy and factory farm industry. For him, he urged citizens, or the "market," to speak out and have their voices heard in order to make changes with their wallets.
Without an actual constitutional challenge of the law, Rusche says the legislation will likely remain on the books for the foreseeable future.
The Humane Society and MFA may be the best chance for animal rights workers to create that challenge, but with massive amounts of money pouring into the coffers of elected representatives, it could be a long while before officials and observers find a way to end the criminalization of animal activism in the country. Idaho may be the first state to have passed the ag-gag laws, but with other states looking closely at following, it may not be the last.
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